


Gone but not Forgotten

by LillianMontane



Category: One Piece
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-06-15 07:04:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15407610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LillianMontane/pseuds/LillianMontane
Summary: A strange devil’s fruit, a curse, and an invisible solution





	1. Chapter 1

“SANJI! FOOD!” Luffy rocketed himself across the deck and into the galley. The rest of the crew exchanged looks between themselves. Had Luffy forgotten what had happened on just the last island? 

 

***** flashback

 

The sun had well passed midday and the Strawhat Pirates were still locked in battle. They had landed on an island in the middle of a civil war. Upon learning the log pose would take 6 days to set, they tried to lie low and keep themselves from being involved. That lasted all of 4 hours until a group of children had run past, fleeing from a group chasing them with murderous intent. Zoro and Luffy had intercepted the pursuers and everything had snowballed from there.

 

Now the pirate crew had joined forces with the local village people and fought to free them from the oppressive tyranny that had been in control for so long.

 

The opposing numbers were dwindling. Sanji and Zoro stood in the middle of an encroaching group, back to back and confident. Usopp wasn’t too far away with Robin, both taking down numbers from a distance. Nami and Chopper had assigned themselves to helping villagers who were injured in the fighting, and Luffy had shot himself over the harbor to completely obliterate the tyrannical force’s headquarters.

 

Zoro jolted around when he heard his crewmate’s pained shout. He and the cook had worked their way apart as they fought through the crowd. Now Sanji had fallen and lay on the ground, muscles spasming, and crying out in pain. A figure stood above him, holding a small device that had wires running down to Sanji’s body. The swordsman saw the person lean down and touch the cook’s arm, speaking some words that clearly terrified the blonde if his expression was anything to go by. A flash of light, then both the mysterious person and the chef vanished.

 

“Sanji!” Usopp’s voice echoed across the hillside. He and Robin had witnessed the odd spectacle as well. Before they could move or do anything else in response, a horn sounded. All of the opposing forces stopped fighting as a person carrying a white flag came over the hill. He called for the resistance leaders to meet and discuss terms. As they left the battle field together, all the fighters began to disperse. A lone figure stood and raised her hands, emitting a soft purple glow that spread outward from her and encompassed most of the remaining people, including all the Strawhat pirates. Luffy, however was still nowhere to be seen.

 

The glow didn’t seem to do anything, but it certainly didn’t have a negative effect, so Zoro thought no more of it, instead turning to join his crew. As he walked towards them, he noticed a very familiar shape on the ground a short distance away. Eyes widening, he rushed toward it. There on the ground lay Sanji. His eyes open and glazed over, arms thrown out haphazardly to the sides, and legs broken at odd angles. He was covered in blood, most of which had come from the angry red slit across his throat. The chef’s normally pale face was ashen and his lips were blue. Zoro fell to his knees beside his fallen comrade and frantically felt for a pulse, a breath, anything that would signal it wasn’t too late. But he found nothing.

 

He didn’t notice when Usopp and Robin came beside him. He didn’t notice when Nami and Chopper joined the group. He didn’t notice when someone asked where Luffy was. All he could see was the broken lifeless body of his rival, his sparring partner, his friend, his Nakama.

 

A touch on his shoulder brought Zoro out of his trance. “There’s nothing I can do for him.” Chopper spoke through his tears. Zoro nodded mutely, only now realizing that his own cheeks were wet as well. He carefully reached down to his fallen crew mate and reached under his knees and beneath his shoulders, standing with the slight body in his arms. Sanji’s head limply fell back.

 

“Someone needs to get Luffy. I’m taking him home.”

 

*****

 

They stood at the mouth of the harbor, watching a small boat drift out to sea. Nami turned to Robin and they held each other as tears streamed down their faces. Zoro held Chopper who wailed that he was sorry that he couldn’t save his life. The Strawhat’s first mate patted the small doctor’s back and gave Usopp a nod. The sniper shot an exploding star, aiming perfectly and causing the small boat to burst into flames.

 

Luffy stood a short distance away, head tilted and looking back and forth between the boat and his crew.

 

***** present time

 

Now hearing their captain shout for the chef, as if he had forgotten about the tragic death only yesterday, the ragtag pirate crew passed concerned looks between themselves. Eventually they all looked to Chopper.

 

“Maybe Luffy blocked the memory?” The small doctor could only speculate as Luffy’s head stuck back out the galley door and the rubber captain asked if anyone else was eating breakfast.

 

Usopp sighed, “I guess I can make something. It won’t be as good, but....”

 

They trudged into the galley to find Luffy looking at them happily. The table was set and serving dishes were even set out, but they were all empty. Usopp walked to the kitchen to see what supplies they had for him to work with.

 

*****

 

Sanji figured he must be dead. He watched as his crew gathered around a body of a skinny blonde. He followed them back to the harbor and waited as they gave a sea burial. No one said a word to him or even glanced his way. Looking down at himself, he saw his suit had blood on it from the battle, and he had small electrical burns where the wires from the device that had knocked him out had attached to his side. One of his arms was still bleeding. Wait. Still bleeding. Where you supposed to bleed if you were dead?

 

As the Strawhats made the Going Merry ready to set sail, Sanji was able to take part in his normal role, unfurling the sails and securing the supplies below deck. He found it odd that he could do these things if he was dead.

 

Ok, so maybe he wasn’t dead. Maybe he was just invisible. No one had spoken to him since he regained consciousness on the battle field. The last thing he remember was a bright flash and when he woke up, everyone seemed to ignore him. They didn’t respond to his voice and wouldn’t even face his direction. The words spoken to him before the blinding light played through his head:

 

Your crew will remember you, but from now on

They won’t see or hear you, you’re in the beyond.

You’re alone from your friends, behind a smokescreen

Whether death is better or worse remains to be seen.

 

Ok, so not dead. But might as well be, according to what he now assumed was a spell. Invisible. He could work with that. Robin was smart; certainly she could find a way to undo this. He just had to get her attention. That turned out to be much more of a challenge than he thought. Every time he touched her arm, his hand slid right past her. He couldn’t speak to get her attention. Even if he tried to write a note right in front of her, she didn’t take notice.

 

Sanji came to the conclusion that he wasn’t so much as invisible as he was... blocked. Not able to interact directly or be seen by his crew. He had no issues interacting with anyone else when they were on an island, but when he tried to speak with, touch, or get his own crew to notice him, he ran up against an invisible, impenetrable wall. It was almost as if he were on a parallel plane of existence, or in a space separated from the rest of the StrawHats’s reality.

 

What was more disturbing though, was that he kept seeing his crewmates crying. Even Zoro had tears in his eyes. Sanji tried his hardest to console his beautiful Nami and Robin. He tried to ask Usopp what was wrong. He attempted to bring Zoro a bottle of sake hoping it would help. Nothing. A full day passed before he tried communicating with Chopper.

 

“I c-c-couldn’t sa-save you!” The small doctor wailed, “I’m so s-sorry, Sanji!”

 

“Chopper, I’m right here, there’s nothing to be sorry for!” But the reindeer went right on crying, not hearing Sanji nor feeling the arms come around him in a hug.

 

Ok, maybe he should rethink that death idea...

 

*****

 

The next morning, Sanji found that he could still accomplish his normal cooking duties. (Back to invisible then, not dead.) He set the table and placed everything on serving platters. As he was debating how best to call for his crew when no one could hear him, Luffy rocketed into the galley and proceeded to eat everything in sight. Sanji flailed around trying to keep some food safe from rubbery hands until the rest of the crew arrived. Without being able to physically contact his captain though, in the end, Sanji was unable to do anything except watch as Luffy inhaled the entire spread.

 

He had another near heart attack when Usopp walked into the kitchen and started actually touching, moving, USING all his equipment and supplies.

 

“Usopp, Sanji’s not gonna like that you’re in there.” Luffy called out, to which the chef himself couldn’t agree more.

 

“But Luffy, he’s gone. Someone needs to cook.” Ah Nami, gorgeous even when he doesn’t agree entirely with her. Sanji had a passing thought that he could get as close to Nami as he wanted right now without her noticing....

 

“No, he’s not gone. He just can’t talk to us right now. How else was he able to make breakfast?” Everyone stared blankly at their captain. This was it. He’d finally gone off his rocker.

 

“Luffy, he didn’t make any breakfast. All those plates were empty.” Zoro was starting to get worried.

 

“Well of course they were! You guys weren’t fast enough!” Luffy tossed his head back and laughed.


	2. Chapter 2

Sanji was getting more and more frustrated as the days passed by. He still couldn’t attract the attention of any of his crewmates, but through trial and error, he had managed to find a few things out about his... situation.

 

  1. He couldn’t speak with anyone on the crew, but could with people outside the crew when they landed on an island.
  2. He couldn’t be seen by anyone on his crew, but he could by other people. He also still had a reflection.
  3. He could interact with his environment.
  4. His crewmates couldn’t see him interacting with anything around them.
  5. They were however, able to see if he changed something in a room or left something in a different spot, as long as he did it while they were not there.
  6. His whole crew with the exception of his captain thought he was dead.



 

This last one was probably the most concerning. They kept speaking of his death, like they had actually witnessed it. But Luffy would normally not take part in these conversations. Occasionally he would ask questions, as if he were trying to figure out the same thing Sanji was: what made them think he was dead? Luffy instead would always speak as if he knew Sanji were still alive and with them on the ship, but even he didn’t ever speak directly to the blonde chef.

 

Sanji had been cooking meals the same as always, but Luffy always seemed to get to them before anyone else. The blonde decided that it really was pointless to be making enough for the entire crew if they were just going to desecrate his kitchen anyway, so he had cut back to making food for just himself and Luffy.

 

The Strawhat captain for his part, had begun to talk to Sanji whenever he was in the galley. Luffy's faith that he wasn't really dead and was still with the crew on some level really was admirable. Sanji of course tried to respond, but nothing ever got through. Right now they sat in the galley side by side, but separated by invisible, impenetrable forces.

 

“Sanji, I know you are still with us. I don't know why everyone keeps saying you aren't. Something happened on that island, huh? The one with the civil war? I saw you and Zoro at each other's backs. Then when I got back to everyone, they were convinced you had been killed. But that wasn't you they buried. I don't know. Maybe I'm the one seeing things. Maybe I just don't want to believe that you're gone before finding your dream.”

 

“NO!” Sanji tried to shout, even knowing Luffy couldn't hear him, “You aren't seeing things! I'm here!” But it did no good. Luffy sighed, stood, and left the galley.

 

Sanji let his head fall to the table. 'Whether death is better or worse remains to be seen.' The words from the curse ran through his mind again. There had to be a way to break this curse. Maybe the library could give him some clues. He walked out of the galley, forgetting his cigarette that still smoldered in the ashtray.

 

*****

 

Usopp walked across the deck, trying to figure out why he smelled cigarette smoke. No one else except their chef partook in that particular habit. Was his mind playing tricks on him? Was Luffy's annoying and infallible persistence chipping away at his own sanity? Following his nose to the galley, he found a still burning cigarette sitting in an ashtray that sat on the main table. Strange. Putting out the smoke, Usopp left the galley to hopefully catch some fish for dinner that night.

 

*****

 

Sanji sat on the floor in the library with open books surrounding him. He had found out a little, but not much. Robin's collection of known devil's fruit listed one that altered people's vision into seeing something false. It mentioned reports of whole villages being destroyed, but then being found later to be thriving. It seemed that this devil's fruit (known as the mind mind fruit) didn't so much change memories as it did what people saw in real-time, tricking them into believing something that was false. According to the book, it could affect as little as one person at a time, but it didn't list a maximum.

 

The blonde leaned back against the bookshelf and thought about how this lined up with what he knew was going on. On the battlefield that day, the crew had seen him die. But Luffy had not been with them. He must not have been hit by the fruit's powers. Ok, well good. At least he had one person on his side.

 

But this did not explain how he was blocked from their plane of existence. And everyone in the crew was affected by this. That is something to add to his list of what he knew about his situation.

 

7\. He himself was hit by a curse that removed him from reality.

8\. The rest of the crew (minus Luffy) was affected by the mind mind fruit.

 

Ok, well now he just had to figure out what caused him to be invisible. Simple, right? Sanji sighed, feeling rather dejected. He moved to watch the sea through the window, turning when the door opened. Robin entered and stopped short with a gasp. She was definitely not expecting to come in to all her books scattered across the floor. Sanji tried to apologize and pick them up, but once she was already touching them, of course he wasn't able to. Robin paused partway through cleaning up all the books, and stared at one of the pages Sanji had left open. She looked around the room and back to the book a few times.

 

“Sanji?”

 

His eyes nearly bugged out of his head. How had she figured it out from just the open page? Then he remembered. He had also left his note sheet in that book.

 

*****

 

Robin was certainly not expecting to find her books scattered all over the floor when she opened the door, but that is exactly what she found. Assuming that they had been incorrectly secured and had fallen from the swells last night, she went about cleaning them up. Finding one with a paper tucked in between its pages, her eyes widened. This was their chef's handwriting. More importantly, it listed that he was not able to interact with the crew and that he had to find a way to convince them he was still alive.

 

“Sanji?” Robin looked around the room, trying to find where the chef could be. She couldn't believe it. He was still alive. Luffy had been right this whole time. But according to this paper, Sanji was not having much luck in reversing what he referred to as a curse.

 

“Do you remember the words that were in the curse? Was it written or spoken?” Robin had many more questions, but realized that without him able to respond, it wouldn't do any good to ask them. “Don't worry, Luffy never doubted. And we'll find a way to break it.”

 

Sanji couldn't believe it. His beautiful Robin was going to help him. He had finally broken through his barrier.

 

*****

 

Later that evening, Sanji relearned the importance of locking the washroom door. He was mid-shower when Nami walked in, grumbling about people leaving the water on when they weren’t in there.

 

“Why do they do this? Now I’ll probably run out of warm water.” She set down her change of clothes and dropped her dirty things into the laundry bin before walking over to the showers. She enjoyed a nice shower, not running out of warm water as she had originally predicted.Sanji however, thought he was going to die from blood loss. He jolted out of the shower and ran for the door, all while blatantly staring at Nami as she started washing.

 

Sanji made his way back to the bunk room while trying to staunch his nosebleed. He knew he’d better get ahold of his problem quickly because Chopper certainly wouldn’t be able to help him as he was right now. Crossing paths with Usopp and Luffy running away from his kitchen with stolen good, however, helped stop the bleed pretty quickly.

 

Deciding to always make sure to lock doors when in compromising positions from how on, the blonde pulled a cigarette from his pack and lay down on the couch in the bunk room. Tomorrow he would go about trying to figure out how to communicate with Robin. Thinking back on everything though, he had one more item to add to his list.

 

  1. There was a maximum distance to his block.



 

He could make food and give it to Luffy; he just had to set it down first and move a certain distance away before Luffy was able to eat it. He also found he could leave notes around, and while no one could see him actively writing, he could set the paper down and leave it there so that someone else would be able to read it. He had taken the time to write out everything that he knew for Robin, including the wording to the curse. Maybe it was a riddle, she was good at those. Sanji fell asleep that night with some hope.

 

*****

 

The next day, Sanji learned that it could literally be life threatening that to his crew he was invisible while people outside the crew could still see him. They were attacked shortly before noon by a marine ship. He fell to his normal place at Zoro’s back, but after having to duck three katanas that were normally his ally, he decided to move a bit further away. He wasn’t sure if they would be able to harm him, but better safe than sorry.

 

The problems came when he was distracted trying to keep an eye on Nami and didn’t notice the heavy seastone and chain bola that was hurled in his direction. It wrapped around his legs, tripping him and knocking him to the deck. His main weapons incapacitated, the chef had no defense when he found a knife pressed to his throat, not hard enough to damage, but hard enough to draw a line of blood. Another blade was pointed as his chest, tip drawing a dot of blood out onto his dress shirt.

 

“Stop!” The attacking commander holding the knife to Sanji’s neck shouted to the rest of the Strawhats. “Or I slice his throat!”


	3. Chapter 3

The marine commander wasn’t sure how to continue when he didn’t get a single response. So he tried again.

 

“Stop now, or I kill the blonde!”

 

That got their attention. Nami swung her head around so quickly it looked painful.

 

“Blonde? Sanji? How do you know about him?”

 

The knife pulled a small distance away from Sanji’s throat and complete confusion crossed the marine’s face. He hesitated too long, and found a white katana come down at him, knocking him back from his captive. But this just raised more questions. Instead of helping his comrade, the green haired pirate stepped right over him to re-enter the fray, not even giving him a passing glance.

 

The blonde pirate on the ground disentangled himself from the bola before also flinging himself back into the fight. The marine commander didn’t have much more time to debate what had happened though, as he felt a fist connect with the back of his head and the world went black.

 

*****

 

“Where are all my bandages??” Chopper could be heard shouting from the medical bay. “I had a ton more that I picked up at the last port, where did they go?”

 

“It was probably a bandage goblin. You know, a long time ago, I once saved an entire kingdom from a whole army of bandage goblins! The kingdom had nothing to use for everything from papercuts to mortal wounds, until I came along….” Usopp launched into another one of his stories.

 

Sanji rolled his eyes as he listened to the sniper. He felt bad about taking Chopper’s bandages, but really he had no other choice. The chains on the Bola had cut deep, and he had gotten a pretty bad slice across his ribs at one point too. Now, sitting on the deck he attempted to wrap up all his injuries from the fight. He grimaced as he peeled his shirt off of his side. The blood had turned tacky and stuck to the fabric. Sanji had a passing thought that maybe he should just leave the shirt to function as a bandage, but he knew that if he skipped cleaning, it would cause more issues than he could handle by himself.

 

He took a deep breathe before pouring the antiseptic over the wound, grunting in pain as it fizzed and cleaned before running down his side and pooling pink on the deck below him. Letting that wound air out a bit, he repeated the process for the cuts the bola left before tightly wrapping everything in his pilfered bandages. Feeling rather drained from the blood loss, Sanji was glad for once that he didn’t have to cook for the whole crew, and decided to call it an early night.

 

*****

 

“Where’s Sanji?” Luffy whined. He had gotten used to getting double meals, and was rather disappointed when he only got the one made by Usopp that night.

 

“Luffy, we’ve been over this.” The sniper sighed from his place in front of the stove.

 

“No, he’s right. Didn’t you hear that guy earlier? He said something about a blonde. Sanji’s the only blonde on this ship. How would he know that?”

“Our navigator is right. I think that our chef really is still alive and with us somehow.” Robin interjected. “He’s just having difficulty communicating with us.”

 

“But where is he?  He was here, but now he’s not here.” Luffy in his infinite wisdom spoke up again.

 

“What are you talking about? We saw his body. He was dead.” Zoro was always one to be blunt about a situation.

 

“That’s just it. I don’t think we did.” Robin plunked a book in the middle of the table. “Luffy never thought he was dead, remember? We think our chef has been both cursed and hit by a devil’s fruit.” She spun the book around and it fell open to a page that read “THE MIND-MIND FRUIT.”

 

“THE MIND-MIND FRUIT”

Known for their ability to alter what surrounding people see, mind-mind fruit users have caused quite a bit of trouble throughout history. They can trick people into believing an alternate reality. It is fairly easy to break through once hit by it, though. All that is needed is to believe that what was seen was in fact false. This can be done with either proof, or just having enough faith. Normally when broken, the true memories will come back, but occasionally the person struck by the mind-mind fruit is stuck with either no memory of the time or parts of the false memory.

 

Robin stopped reading and looked up at the rest of the crew. “So who remembers what? Now that we know the truth, let’s start there.”

“I remember you guys all crowded around someone who was blonde, but not Sanji. Then you brought him back to the ship and buried him, but Sanji was never there. I haven’t seen him since I was separated from you all during that civil war island.”

 

Nami spoke up next, “Yeah, now that I think back, it wasn’t Sanji we took home. But there was some weird flash of light and that was the last I saw him.”

 

Usopp scratched the tip of his nose before he spoke. “You’re right. I remember that light. And he disappeared.”

 

“I saw it too! But it seemed so real when we found the body…” Chopper started sniffling again.

 

“I also remember that light, doctor-san. I think that it corresponds to why we can’t see or hear him, but is independent of the mind-mind fruit’s effects.” Robin then turned to Zoro. “What do you remember?”

 

“I know you’ve all said he didn’t die, but all I can remember is the sight of his body lying there broken and limp. It felt so real…. when I carried him back to the ship….” Zoro wasn’t one who normally showed emotions, but it was obvious how upsetting this had been to him. He shook his head and looked back up to the rest of the crew. “But it doesn’t matter. It was false, and now we have to find how to help him.”

 

“Chopper, you said you were missing bandages?” Nami’s eyes widened as she realized something.

 

“Yeah, I thought that I had stocked up, but maybe I just forgot to…”

 

“No, I don’t think you forgot. I think that Sanji got hurt during this morning’s attack, and he took them because you can’t help him right now. Did anyone else hear when that commander shouted something about the blonde?”

 

Zoro nodded and Chopper looked ready to cry because he had no way to go help his friend.

 

“Well, I think that we are the only ones who can’t see him. Those marines did. And I’m worried that something happened. Luffy, how do you know he’s not here right now?”

 

“Shi-shi-shi well.... I’ve been getting food from both him and Usopp. But he didn’t leave any tonight.” Luffy grinned rather sheepishly while admitting his double eating.

 

“Ok, our captain’s excessive eating aside, we have a curse to break.” Robin produced the note that Sanji had written for her, detailing the occurrence and wording of his curse. She read it out for the whole crew to hear:

 

“Your crew will remember you, but from now on

They won’t see or hear you, you’re in the beyond.

You’re alone from your friends, behind a smokescreen

Whether death is better or worse remains to be seen.”

 

“Curses are relatively easy to break, but we need some supplies first. And it’s Sanji’s curse, so he will need to be the one to break it.”


	4. Chapter 4

_Cook-San,_

_We know how to break your curse. The wording of the curse itself tells us. The first few lines just describe what will happen. The second two lines give the clues. You must do this by yourself, there is nothing more we can do to help but provide this information._

_First, as with most curses, this will require the same moon cycle that occurred when you caught the curse. You will need to bathe with sea salt after dark and before dawn. Then you will need to burn a combination of uncrossing herbs. Because the curse was four lines long, you will need to use four different herbs. We should have them all on the ship: sage, lavender, rose hips, and bay leaves. Do one at a time._

_The last step is concentrating on how the curse has impacted your life. This can be almost anything. Have you learned something? Would death be better or worse? Is your life better for going through this?_

_Good luck, Sanji. We all wish you the best._

 

 

Sanji stood in his kitchen reading the note that was left on the counter. It was in his gorgeous Robin’s handwriting. He smiled softly. His crew had faith he could do this. Not only did they know he was still alive, but now they had no doubts he would be able to break the curse. He was a little curious how long they had been working on this. In fact he wasn’t entirely sure how long it had been since he had wrapped his own injuries. All he knew was it was mid-afternoon when he had crawled into the bunk room, and it was again when he had woken up. But from how much of his supplies had been used in the kitchen, he was pretty sure it had been at least one day, maybe two or possibly even three.

 

He had woken still tired, stiff, achy, and feverish. Just great, he hadn’t cleaned his wounds well enough, and they had probably gotten infected. Figuring it would be best to clean it up as much as possible, Sanji stumbled from the bunk room to the medical bay to use more of Chopper’s supplies. The wound on his side had bled through the bandages he had wrapped around it, and it was very painful, more so than it should be this long after getting it.

 

Taking his pilfered supplies, Sanji made it was into his kitchen to take stock of the situation. That was where he had found Robin’s letter. He reread the writing. ‘This will require the same moon cycle.’ Same moon cycle. How long had it been now?

 

Sanji sat down to work through what she had told him. He thought back. It had been 19 days. A moon cycle was 28 days long. He had 9 more before he could try breaking it. Robin had listed what herbs to use, and Sanji normally did have all four on the ship, but he knew for a fact he was missing the rose hips. Last month, he and Brook had used up the rest of his supply in a delicious tea. Hopefully they would have some at the next port. The only problem is that Nami held on to the money. He would have to figure a way to get some from her to buy the rose hips. Or he’d just take them. He was a pirate after all.

 

*****

 

Sanji had decided on leaving a message asking for money from Nami. He had left his empty container open on the counter by the note as well. When he next came into the galley, there were a few belli inside of it. His lovely Nami must be missing all his attention and taken pity on him. The only problem now is that they wouldn’t be to the next port for 6 days, luckily he would be able to break this curse shortly after.

 

For the rest of the week, Sanji focused on not making his inflamed wound worse. With Chopper not able to help him, an infection would be one of the worst things that could happen. He made sure to clean it twice a day and wrap it with clean bandages. As he was wrapping it for hopefully the last time as it was looking much better and finally starting to form a scab, Sanji heard Nami call that they would be reaching the island in the next hour or so. Hurrying onto deck, the blonde waited impatiently to be able to get the last supplies he needed to break his curse.

 

*****

 

Walking through the small town, Sanji took notice that there was an unusually large marine presence on this island. He had decided to keep all the necessary herbs together, thinking that he would be less likely to lose them that way. He felt the small pouch in his left hip pocket again, just to make sure it was there. He had the bay leaves, lavender, and sage and was currently looking through the marketplace for some rosehips.

 

A commotion up ahead caught Sanji’s attention. There were shouts and sounds of a fight breaking out. Sanji rolled his eyes, knowing even while he hoped otherwise, that his crew was most likely the cause of it. Soon enough, his captain came flying out of the giant dust cloud that had formed. A rubber arm stretched back into the fray and he rocketed himself back down the street. Sanji considered joining the fight, but decided his presence would not be necessary. The marines, while numerous, didn’t seem to be too dangerous. Turning away from his captain’s entertainment, Sanji continued his search through the marketplace.

 

It wasn’t for another few hours that he found what he had been looking for. He had taken the time to resupply on a few other items as well, and had even found a delicious cut of orange roughy that would work well for the party Luffy was bound to order when Sanji was fully part of the crew again. Happy with how his shopping trip had gone, he made his way back to the docks only to find … nothing. The ship wasn’t there.

 

“God fucking damn it! Where the hell did they go?” He shouted at the empty berth where the ship had been earlier. He knew that this was a chance he ran. Getting off the ship while invisible meant that the rest of the crew wouldn’t know if he were there or not before casting off. And now he had been left behind. Grumbling his way back to the village, Sanji pondered what to do.


	5. Chapter 5

The den den mushi rang. For the fourth time that day, Usopp ran to answer it.

“Yes, hello?” 

“...”

“Hello?”

“...”

“Look, is there anyone there?”

“...”

“Stop calling here if you are just gonna stay silent!” The long nosed sniper shouted at the little snail phone before turning it off and severing the connection. He went back to making food for their small crew and wondering who would want to prank call them like that.

 

*****

 

Sanji slammed the den den mushi down in frustration. Running a hand through his blonde locks, he cursed under his breath.Realistically though, what had he expected? They couldn’t hear him in person, why would they have been able to over the den den mushi?He had only 2 more days now until he could break his curse. In that time, he had hoped to contact the rest of the Strawhat crew so that they could come back for him by the time he had fixed his issue. Unfortunately that wasn’t going so well.

 

He sighed. The only other option would be sending something via messenger gull. But who knew if it would make it. Sanji thanked the storekeeper for letting him use the den den mushi, and strolled back out into the sunny weather. Luckily for him, it was a summer island, so he had actually been fairly comfortable sleeping on the beach overnight. Nothing left to do now but wait.

 

*****

 

“Sanji’s mad at me.”

 

“Why do you say that?” Usopp looked over to where Luffy was supposedly sorting out their fishing gear, but really it looked like he was making a bigger mess of it.

 

“Cause he hasn’t left me any food at all for the last 2 days.”

 

“Our chef hasn’t responded to my notes either.” Robin spoke up from where she was sitting in a sun chair across the deck.

 

“Maybe he’s mad at you too.” Luffy was now getting tangled in some of the fishing line.

 

“Maybe he’s gone.” Zoro didn’t bother opening his eyes when he joined the conversation, having been woken from a nap.

 

“Gone?”

 

“Well we can’t see him. Can’t hear him. And Luffy caused us to leave the last port in a hurry or risk a bigger fight with the marines. Maybe he just didn’t make it back to the ship. After all, it is always hard to find the way back to the docks.”

 

Usopp cleared his throat, “You know, I had some calls on the den den mushi earlier. But when I answered, no one was on the other line. I thought someone was just messing with us, but what if it was Sanji trying to get us to come back?”

 

The Strawhat crew passed nervous looks amongst themselves. Had they left their chef behind?

 

*****

 

Sanji sat on the beach, staring out to sea. Just one more day until he could break the curse. Then hopefully his crew would have figured out he was not on board and come back for him. At the very least he should be able to contact them and find out where they were headed next so he could catch up.

 

He sighed as his back hit the sand. He was getting tired of waiting. Waiting lead to thinking, and thinking was never a good thing when he was alone. The last time he was stuck waiting and watching nothing but the sea had not gone so well. Sanji knew this time was different. He knew his crew would come back for him. But that knowledge didn’t stop him from being nervous and fidgety about this whole experience. Watching the sun set was at once peaceful and extraordinarily lonely.

 

*****

 

The next morning brought with it a cool breeze and misty clouds. Sanji shivered and pulled his blazer tighter. Looking out at the horizon, he saw a fog bank hemming in the island. Scanning over to the docks, there was still no sign of the Strawhats. Standing and brushing the sand from his trousers, Sanji decided to walk back to town, hoping he would make it before the rain hit.

 

Luck was not with him though, and by the time he made it back to the village, he was soaked and chilled to the bone. Wet, miserable, and dejected, Sanji let himself into what looked like a storage shed that sat behind the general store. He didn’t have permission to be in here, but who cares, he’s a pirate. At least it was a dry warm spot to stay out of the rain.

 

Sanji sat up straight suddenly. He had missed such an obvious detail. Letting himself back out of the shed, he hurried back to ask to borrow the den den mushi again.

 

*****

 

Usopp glared at the snail phone when it started ringing again. Huffing, he reached to answer it.

 

“Yes? Hello?”

 

“Hi, um yeah. Is this the Strawhats?”

 

“Who’s asking?”

 

“Oh, my name is Kelly. I am a shop keeper in Portree. I’m actually calling for someone else.”

 

“Someone else? Who even has this number?”

 

“He says you would know him as Mr. Prince?”

 

“Oh yes. Yes! Is he with you? Is everything ok?”

 

“Yes, everything is fine. He told me to ask if you could come back?” There was a moment of shuffling and Usopp could hear Kelly talking with someone on the other end, but couldn’t hear a response. “And if you can’t, where you are going next?”

“Um.... let me get our navigator.” Usopp set the den den mushi down and ran out the door, shouting for Nami.

 

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing’s wrong, but I need to know what island we will be on next? Or if we can turn around. Sanji found a way to contact us, and it turns out that he really did get left behind.”

 

Chopper stuck his head around the corner, “Is he hurt? Is everything ok?”

 

“Here, why don’t you both just come talk to them?”

 

“Them?” Nami looked curiously at the long nosed sniper.

 

“Yeah, you’ll see. Er, hear.” Usopp replied as they reached the snail phone again.

 

“Kelly?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Ok, so I have our navigator here.” He passed the snail to Nami.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Yes. So he was wondering if... oh my god, are you alright?!?” Kelly cut off abruptly and could be heard talking to someone on the other end of the line before coming back to the conversation. “Sorry, he just started bleeding for no reason. Ok so he was wondering if you could come back or if he should catch up.”

 

Nami rolled her eyes. At least that was confirmation that Sanji really was there. But really. After just one word from her? “We can turn back. As long as the weather doesn’t get too bad we’ll be there late tomorrow. Tell him to be ready and meet us at the docks.”

 

“He says ok. Thanks, bye!” The little snail phone went silent and closed its eyes as Kelly hung up.

 

Nami, Usopp and Chopper looked at each other and grinned before Nami spoke.

 

“Alright, lets tell the rest of the crew, turn the ship, and go get our chef!”

 


	6. Chapter 6

Kelly hung-up the den den mushi and placed it back under the store’s counter. Arms crossed, the store keeper turned to Sanji, “Ok, you promised you’d tell me why you couldn’t be heard over the snail phone.”

The blonde sighed and nodded, “Let’s get a drink.”

Now they sat together outside a cafe under an umbrella. The rain had died down to a drizzle, but it was warm and calm. Kelly had ordered a coffee and croissant. Sanji sat with a cup of tea. 

“I guess I should start at the beginning. My crew and I somehow found our way into the middle of an island’s civil war. Everything was fine until this lady hit me with some sort of electrical device. It knocked me down and I couldn’t move a muscle. She touched my arm and recited some words. At the time it was ... disconcerting. Now I know she was actually setting a curse. Anyway, there was a bright flash of light and I was knocked out. When I woke up, the fight was over and the rest of my crew were all gathered around a fallen man...”

*****

“And tonight is when you can break the curse?” Kelly had finished his coffee and Sanji was on his 2nd cup of tea. 

“Yep. After the sun sets. It requires bathing in salt water, but I figure going down to the ocean would work just the same.”

“Well feel free to come back to the store after. I live just upstairs from it, and can give you a dry place for the night.”

“Thanks, I’ll do that.”

*****

Now, Sanji stood beneath a tree near the shore. The sun had set, but the rain remained. The breeze had picked up and caused the temperature to drop. He took the small pouch of herbs and his lighter out of his pocket before folding and setting the blazer under the tree. He folded and placed his dress shirt, slacks, and undergarments in the same pile. Shivering in the misty air, the blonde chef quickly made his was down to the bay. After placing the herb pouch and lighter on the beach, he waded into the salty surf.

The water was not too much colder than the air and once it reached his waist, Sanji ducked under. Surfacing, he wiped the water from his eyes and moved his wet hair from where it had plastered across his face. He floated on his back awhile, feeling the rain hit his face and thinking about the curse. What had he learned from this whole experience?

After about 10 minutes, Sanji waded back ashore. He sat on the wet sand and opened the herb pouch. First out was the sage. Lighting it with a flame from his lighter, he placed it onto the sand and watched the smoke rise. 

“I guess I’ve learned that even though the crew can function just fine without a chef, they still want me there. And are willing to help me fix this mess.”

Next he burned the bay leaves. “I’ve also come to realize that even though I have chosen the life of a pirate, people like Kelly are still willing to help me if I need it.”

The rose hips caught the flame next. “If I had to live like this for the rest of my life though, I honestly am not sure if I would stay with the crew. I can see them and communicate to a certain extent, but they can’t see me at all. To them, I might as well be dead. I think it would be more fair to them to leave. I mean, if letters are my only communication, that could be done from a great distance...” He sighed and thought about that before lighting the lavender.

As the last herb caught the flame, Sanji realized how sad he would be if he really left the Strawhats. “We haven’t been together for all that long, but... I’ve grown so close to everyone. I was born to a family, Zeff raised me, but here... here I truly belong.”

As the lavender’s flame sizzled and all that remained was ash, Sanji felt a warmth spread through his entire being. He had done all he could. He just hoped it was enough. Standing and walking back to the edge of the forest, Sanji redressed and made his way back to the village of Portree. He hoped Kelly had 5 or 6 blankets he could use, because swimming in the cold sea, sitting naked on the shore, and then walking through the rain had him chilled to the bone. 

*****

He stumbled up the side stairway that led to the apartment above the general store. Sanji found it easier to fall against rather than knock on the door. He could see that the tips of his fingers had turned blue, and his vision was going blurry. He wasn’t entirely sure how he had made it here, but he was pretty sure this was the right place.

Sanji let his head fall forward against the door again with a hallow thunk. He was caught by surprise when the door opened and he fell against a solid, warm body.

“On my god you’re freezing! Get in here.” Kelly caught the blonde as he fell through the doorway and guided him to a couch in the main living area. The shop keeper rushed around the small apartment gathering blankets and extra clothes. 

“Take off those wet things. And put these on.” He ordered as he came back over to where Sanji was sitting. He got only a confused, unfocused gaze in response. Huffing, Kelly set everything down and moved to help Sanji out of the rain soaked clothes. He struggled a bit getting the dry change onto the chef, but soon Sanji sat in front of the fire wrapped in warm fluffy blankets and supported by the shopkeeper. 

*****

“Can you hear me, kid?” Sanji was aware of a voice close by seemingly calling to him. He struggled just to get his eyes to open and then gradually become aware of his surroundings. He was ... cozy. A fire flickered in front of him, and a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He felt a solid presence behind him and heard the voice again. “Come on kid, you gotta stay awake.”

Sanji groaned, “ ‘m fine.” 

“Fine? You nearly died from hypothermia! Can you even tell me where you are right now?”

“Of course! I... um... wait. Kelly? How’d I get here?”

Kelly chuckled. “That’s what I thought. You were soaked and freezing when you showed up here. How are you feeling now?”

Sanji took stock of his situation. “Actually a lot better. How long has it been? I’m not cold anymore, and I can see things clearly again.”

“It’s morning. You’ve been fading in and out of it all night. Hungry?”

“Yeah, a bit. Are you? I can make something for both of us. It’s the least I can do for all the help you’ve given me.”

“Breakfast would be great.”

Sanji smiled as he stood and followed Kelly into the kitchen. He noticed that he was wearing different clothes from last night, that he didn’t remember changing into. He must really have been out of it, if he hadn’t been able to even dress himself. Sanji decided on eggs benedict and strawberry crepes. When they were finished, he and Kelly walked down to the docks together. Nami had said the afternoon, but the weather had cleared up, so Sanji guessed they would be earlier.

Sure enough, as the two men walked down the pier, they were able to see a small ship with the Jolly Roger wearing a strawhat.

“SAAAAANNJJJIIIIIIII!!!!!!!” 

“Oh, shit! Look out, Kelly!”

Luffy rocketed himself onto the chef, barely missing the man walking beside him. “Sanji! You’re back! I thought you were mad at me, cause you stopped making food. But then Zoro said you got lost getting back to the ship. And then someone called us, and now I can see you! So, feast?”

Sanji just laughed. He couldn’t remember ever being this happy about being caught in a Luffy hug. “Sure Luffy, feast. Lots of meat. But I can’t until you let me up.” The strawhat captain leapt up as quickly as he could after hearing that and turned to talk to Kelly who stood nearby watching.

Robin walked down the pier toward the small group. “Good to see you again, cook-san. I assume everything worked?”

“Yes, Robin-chan! Your instructions were perfect.”

“Aside from a bout of hypothermia….” Kelly put in with a grin. 

“WAAAAAH!!! Hypothermia!” Chopper had now joined the group and was forcing Sanji into a quick checkup.

By now the entire strawhat crew had gathered on the pier. Sanji smiled over at Kelly, “This is my crew, the ones you spoke with on the den den mushi. Thanks for everything, Kelly. I really couldn’t have fixed this without you. As I just promised my captain, we’re gonna have a feast. Want to join?”

“I don’t see why not.” 

“Great! Feast! Meat! Let’s go!” Luffy and the rest of the rag tag pirate crew made their way back to the Going Merry. As per usual, the strawhat feast was a chaotic mess. Kelly was surprised at first, but quickly fit right in, sending Chopper into a fit of giggles when he and Usopp shot roasted vegetables into each other’s mouths from across the room.

They soon found themselves casting off from Portree. Sanji stood on the stern deck waving to Kelly on the pier. As soon as they were out of sight of the town, he turned to watch his crew and smiled. He was home. 


End file.
